Night #14 - The Tablet, the Gate, and the Brothers Egypt

"We were really excited about having something that the tablet fits into, and something it was supposed to fit into, for a really long time." -- Paraphrasing Robert Ben Grant and Thomas Lennon, concerning the Gate of Kahmunrah.

Not only is it clear that the tablet once fit into that slot on the front of the gate, there are bits of the tablet stuck in the slot, coinciding exactly with the damaged edges of the tablet itself. This implies that it was forcefully separated from the gate and thus was possibly pretty much stuck to the gate at one point. That the gate needs the tablet to work or it's otherwise a strangely carved glorified piece of wall speaks to the symbolic value of the two pieces.

The Gate of Kahmunrah

Strongly imagerically dark (yes, I made that up), the gate is one of the two focal points of Kahmunrah's plan to take over the world. The trouble is, it needs the tablet (strongly imagerically light) in order to perform any useful work. This is the symbolic counterpart of Kahmunrah's motivation hinging on how he feels about the favoritism shown toward his brother and toward his brother in general. In both respects, he still needs Ahkmenrah.

The Tablet of Ahkmenrah

The light counterpart to the gate and the key to the gate so to speak, the tablet can act independently of the gate, if only in the limited capacity of bringing exhibits to life and doing nothing else. This equates to Ahkmenrah not appearing to be emotionally tethered to Kahmunrah. Note that I said "appearing to be". The tablet still requires outside help for more complicated acts such as opening gates to the Underworld and whatever else it can do. While Ahkmenrah hides it really well, this indicates through symbolism that he still needs someone in a close familial relationship (ideally he wants to reconstruct his relationship with his brother, indicated by the fact that the tablet and the gate were made for each other and once were joined before being forcibly separated some time before the brothers were buried with the separate pieces).

Is there any hope for the Brothers Egypt?

Well, that depends on how you look at Kahmunrah's exile to the Underworld. If he's gone for good, then there's no hope. If he can still come back, as his mummy or another waxwork or statue of some other medium, then there's a chance there. This is a question which only time can answer, in other words.

So the tablet and the gate are symbolic of the brothers, their personalities, and their relationship to each other as it directs their motives and the ways they navigate through life. The one is consumed by the favoritism shown his brother and thus twisted and hell-bent on world domination. The other needs his brother on an emotional level but does not consume himself with it and can hide it rather well. Their lives are both deeply anchored in their feelings toward each other, and they can both be said to need each other, in various capacities. (They don't "love" each other per se, as there is too much emotional baggage to work through for that to truly be said of the brothers.)

They are just never seen together.

Next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": the tablet and what it reveals about the literacy of the brothers.

Countdown: 362 Days to NATM 3.